Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Amy Chua with her daughters, Louisa and Sophia

The article, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior," by Amy Chua, published in The Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2011, is about how and why Chinese mothers raise successful children compared to Western parents. In this article the author explained that Chinese mothers are very strict and very powerful in order to raise their children. Western parents are very nervous about their children but Chinese parents are very confident and they know what's best for their children.

As a Chinese mother, Chua has some rules that her children had to follow, like not having a play date, not being able to choose their own school activity, etc. The author said how confident she is as a Chinese mother and believes that her children will be successful if they keep up the hard work. She keeps her daughter working again and again to practice on a piano piece called "The Little White Donkey."  It was so difficult for her daughter, who was really young, to coordinate both of her hands to keep schizophrenically different rhythms, but she made her daughter keep doing it and not to give up and finally she did it. Once she got it, her daughter thought that was easy. It made her daughter proud of herself and made her proud of her daughter and herself, because she made her daughter succeed. Even Jed, her husband who disagreed with the way she treated her daughter, in the end gave her credit for that one. She raised her children in the hardest way to make them independent and prepared for their better lives in the future. Even though she was very strict with her children, her children didn't hate her. and Lulu was happy after she knew how to play piano better and they hugged each other. Chinese children seemed like they realized that the way their mother raised them is for their better future life. That's why Chinese mothers are superior.

After reading this article, I think all parents have their own way to raise their children and every parenting style has its own advantages and disadvantages. I agreed with Chua as a Chinese Mother that children should work hard in order to get a better life in the future. On the other hand, Children should be able to socialize with their friends. Kids should have balance between their academic and social life, and they should be able to enjoy their youth. Parents need to guide and help them to manage their life between academic and outside activities, such as sports, play dates, etc. So they won’t be out of control.